Chapter 12.
Believe it or not, this is only the first 15 minutes of Episode 12.
Special thanks to blue Wren, Spencee98, ItsMalecNotLeviosA, guest, BehindGrayEyes, x NikiSt x, ShortMonster, MonicaH14, leftmysanityathome, and ebonbon!
I'm loving all the responses!
Disclaimer: I don't own Shameless
Daniela swore there were dozens of butterflies fluttering around in her stomach. She couldn't seem to stop her hands from fidgeting with whatever she could find. Jakob glanced over at her in annoyance. She was sketching again- or trying to. Finding a pen and some napkins in the glove box, she decided to use them to take her mind off of things. In reality, she was just scribbling nonsensical things and clicking her pen.
Click! Click! Clic-
"Dani, I swear. If you click that pen one more time," he warned gruffly. His sister's eyes snapped to his, clearly in a daze. Her mouth formed an O shape as she looked down at the pen in her hand and put it down in the cup holder.
"Sorry," she grimaced. "Just nervous I guess."
"You don't say," scoffed Jakob lightly. "You shouldn't be. It'll be fine. He'll be happy to see you."
Daniela switched her attention to looking out her window at the passing cars and road. She hummed slightly to herself- an old song her mom used to sing to her. It managed to calm her nerves. Her brother listened contently, smiling slightly. By the time they arrived at the prison, she felt almost ready to see her dad once again. They went through the usual process of going through security, signing in and receiving their Visitors badges.
Jakob rubbed his sister's shoulders in reassurance as they were led by a security guard into the meeting room. Daniela recognized the bland surroundings as she entered and made her way over to an empty stall.
She tucked a piece of brown hair behind her ear, ignoring the consistent tapping of her foot. Her attention snapped to her brother when she heard him clear his throat.
"Relax, yeah? It'll be fine." Daniela nodded in reply and twisted her head back towards the glass window. The tall, broad-shouldered figure of her father caught her eye. Lawrence's face filled with surprise for a brief second before quickly being replaced with a small smile.
The man let out a low grunt as he took the seat across from her and grabbed the nearby phone.
"Daniela," he greeted slowly. "I thought I wouldn't be seeing you again."
Daniela huffed a small laugh and shook her head. "You and me both. But recently, things have happened and I've thought- a lot- about what you did." Her clammy hand clutched the phone to her ear as her father listened, intrigued. She didn't miss the small glimmer of hope that showed in his green eyes. "And I decided, that I am ready to make amends."
Lawrence's face almost split down the middle from his grin. The man nodded and leaned his head forward slightly.
"You have no idea how much I've wanted to fix things between us. To explain everything I did. Why I was never there for you, even before I got locked up in here."
"You don't have to explain, Dad," disagreed Daniela with a shake of her head. "I know you did what you did for us. To provide and protect for us. And while the image of seeing you killing someone is burned into my brain, I... I'm willing to try and move past it."
"I love you all so much, baby girl," said Lawrence adamantly. Daniela felt tears spring to her eyes at the sound of the term of endearment her father had often said to her. "You, your brother, your mother- you were everything to me. And there was no way in hell, that I was letting that Milkovich prick lay a hand on any of you. No matter what the price."
"I know, Dad," nodded the girl, feeling a lot better. "I realize that now. I'm just sorry it took me so long for me to do this."
"No," refused Lawrence with a deep frown. "You have no reason to apologize. Even before I was in here, I was a shit father. I know I was. I was never there for you when you needed me. Hell, I don't think I ever even read you a damn bedtime story."
Lawrence shook his head again and looked down. He twitched his nose and sniffed. "I was never much of a father. To you or Jakob. It pisses me off that it took landing my ass in jail to finally realize that. Miraculously, I managed to fix things with your brother. And I'm more than ready to do the same with you. If you'll let me?"
By now, the tears were practically raining down Daniela's face. She could feel the thickness of snot built up in her nose and groaned internally. She hated when that happened.
"In case you didn't notice, Dad, that's why I'm here," she laughed softly. "I wanna get to know my dad."
"And I want to get to know my little baby girl," replied Lawrence with a smile. The two let the new easiness wash over them. Jakob, who had been quietly observing the altercation, felt a swell of emotion in his chest. He didn't show it of course. Daniela would never let him live it down.
"So," chirped Lawrence, his rich baritone voice warming immensely as Daniela wiped away the remaining tears. "Tell me all about you. I wanna know everything. Favorite color, favorite foods, hobbies. You still like drawing and painting? I remember you liking that as a little girl. Probably one of the only things I can remember, to be honest."
Daniela nodded at her father with a grin. "Yeah, I still love art."
The two continued to talk and get to know each other for as long as they were allowed. This happened to be only a short ten minutes. To Daniela, it felt surreal. She had never imagined she would be in this position right now, laughing as her father blissfully reminisced about things from his youth. She had managed to learn so much in those sparse minutes, and she knew there was much more to learn.
Jakob threw an arm around her shoulder as they walked through the parking lot to his truck.
"You did good, sis," he congratulated, dropping a kiss on the top of her head.
"Thanks. I feel a lot better now," replied Daniela. They reached the truck and hopped in.
/
"So I need to tell you something," blurted Jakob as they made their way home. Daniela raised a curious eyebrow at her brother.
"Did you get a girl pregnant?" She asked, crossing her arms in mock anger. "I thought you understood the concept of contraception." Her brother chuckled and shook his head.
"No, I didn't get a girl pregnant. But it is important."
"Okay. Spill the deets."
"I'm thinking about becoming a police officer," announced Jakob. He glanced quickly at his sister to see her eye's widened. "Well, actually, I'm more than thinking about becoming an officer. I already put in my papers for training and all that. I've been talking to Tony- you know how we were friends in high school- and he put in a good word. I start training next week."
Daniela nodded, impressed. "Wow. Look at you, getting your life together. I'm proud of you, big bro," she said, nudging his shoulder.
A grin lit up his face as he looked at her again. "Thanks, Dani."
The girl tuned the radio, finally settling on one both her and her brother liked. Settling back, she watched outside the window as the sky grew darker.
The sun had been completely down for almost an hour when they pulled up to the curb outside of their house. As Daniela moved to head inside, she felt a vibrating in her pocket and pulled out her phone. She saw that it was Fiona.
"Hey, Fi. How's it going?"
"Lip and Ian were arrested," answered the woman shortly.
"WHAT?"
/
Daniela marched into the police station, her blood boiling. Those stupid idiots. What were they thinking? Driving a stolen car. She honestly questioned the intelligence of both boys as she found her way to the front desk. Jakob trailed behind her cautiously.
"El!" Cried a light, happy voice from behind her. The girl's head whipped around to see Debbie sitting with a clearly distraught Fiona on a bench against the wall. Smiling, she made her way over.
"Hey Debs," she greeted, giving her a squeeze. She turned to the shaking Fiona and did the same.
"Thanks for coming, El, you really didn't have to. I just wanted to keep you updated," said Fiona.
"Oh please," waved off the teen. "I wanted to come. Besides, I need to give both of them an ass-whooping once they get out."
"Yeah, well me first," scoffed Fiona humorously. The woman's eyes switched to Jakob's and she nodded slightly.
"How are you going, Fiona?" Asked the young man in greeting.
"Well, as you can tell, pretty shit," shrugged the woman. Daniela looked between the two with a frown.
"Oh yeah. I forgot you two went to school together." She looked back to Fiona in worry. "Any news yet?"
"Not yet," answered Fiona, raking a hand through her unkempt hair. The woman sat back down and blew out a deep breath. Debbie grabbed her sister's hand comfortingly.
"No lattes or anything but they did have hot chocolate for Debbie," announced an unfamiliar voice. Daniela turned to see a pretty blonde woman walking up to them, balancing three cups in her hands. She stared in surprise at the two new arrivals. Daniela did the same to her.
"Oh, hello," greeted the woman with a large smile. She handed off two of the cups before placing a manicured hand out. "I'm Jasmine. A friend of Fiona's."
"Daniela. Friend of Ian's. And Lip too," she added as an afterthought, not returning the woman's handshake. If Jasmine seemed put out in the slightest, she didn't show it and continued to smile. Daniela noticed the appraising looks between Jasmine and her brother with mild repulsion. Rolling her eyes, she took a seat next to Debbie.
"Thanks for this," said Fiona to her new friend. "And for driving, but you don't have to stay."
"It's cool," shrugged the blonde. "I'll hang for a bit."
Daniela's attention snapped to Tony as she saw him walk over before noticing them and making to turn away. This made her curious. It seemed she wasn't the only one who saw him as Fiona also stood up.
"Tony! Did you see them?" The officer faced the group with a grimace.
"They're still in the back."
"When can I see them?"
"If Lip's not charged as an adult-"
"Wait, what?" Asked Daniela in shock.
"-You can see them both in court tomorrow," finished Tony, placing both hands on his hips.
"Why would Lip be tried as an adult? He's 17," pointed out Daniela angrily. Tony tilted his head and explained, not wanting to enrage the group anymore.
"It's because he's 17 and so close to the legal age. It doesn't help that he's had previous altercations with the cops before. They may charge him with felony grand theft auto."
"Holy shit," breathed the teen, turning away to pace. The thought of Lip possibly going to jail worried her more than she thought it would.
"There's no way Lip would steal a car, he's too smart- and Ian doesn't even drive!" Argued Fiona furiously. Daniela found herself agreeing with the flustered woman. They were smarter than that, even if sometimes she thought otherwise. This wasn't something either of them would do. Yet, here they were.
"If they didn't steal it-"
"They didn't steal it!" Refused the woman again, cutting off Tony.
"If they didn't then they have to tell the detectives who gave them the car and agree to testify. If they don't give up a name, Lip could do five years". Daniela felt her stomach drop at Tony's words.
Lip couldn't go to jail. He had so much potential. Plus, whether she wanted to admit it or not- she cared for him. Genuinely. Possibly even more than she thought she should. Hearing that Lip could do some serious time caused a deep frown to mar her face as she began to chew on her nails.
Tony gave the group one last sympathetic look before walking away. Fiona looked about ready to burst into tears but continued to hold it together. Daniela admired that.
She felt the warm hand of her brother touch her shoulder. "Maybe we should go home."
"No," she turned down quickly. "I'm staying."
"El, you really don't have to," argued Fiona lightly but she knew there was no point. The girl was stubborn and wouldn't take no for an answer. Jakob seemed to notice this too and nodded with a sigh.
Dropping his hand, he placed it in the pocket of his coat. "I'll go get us a hot drink."
Jasmine, perking up a little, smiled at him. "I'll show you."
Daniela watched her brother and the blonde walk off with an unimpressed look. She turned back to Fiona and Debbie, who had taken their seats once again.
"She's married you know?" Started the woman, drained. She raked both hands through her hair once again. Daniela noticed that she did that whenever she was stressed or upset. She had seen her do it a lot.
"I'll be sure to let him know," smirked Daniela. It quickly slipped away to be replaced with another serious look.
"Where the hell did they get the car from?" She whispered, more to herself than the others. However, she didn't miss the flash of emotion on Fiona's face and frowned.
"Fiona?" She asked to get the woman's attention. When her head snapped up to look at her, she continued. "Do you know something? About the stolen car?" Fiona chewed on her lip, a clear sign of nervousness.
"Fiona?" She asked again, this time more insistent. A few, long moments passed before Fiona finally sighed and nodded subtly.
"I think they got the car from Steve," she admitted in a hushed tone. Daniela honestly wasn't surprised with all the shady things she had learned about him and wondered why she hadn't already come to that conclusion. "He steals cars and sells them. I think he let Lip borrow one so they could go and look for Ian's real dad."
"Well then call Steve, get him down here to fix this. He's rich, he could pay off the cops no problem!" Daniela's voice raised higher and higher showing her growing frustration.
Fiona sucked her teeth and waved a hand. "I've tried! He's not answering his phone. Fucking asshole."
"Ian and Lip can't get charged for this," continued Daniela. "Ian won't be able to enlist and join the army like he's always wanted to. And Lip... Lip could go to jail. Which means he won't finish school and go to college." She shook her head at these thoughts. Ian not being able to enlist pained Daniela and she hoped that it wouldn't result in that. If there was one thing her best friend wanted more than anything, it was to join the army.
Fixing Fiona with a hard look, she leaned forward. "Call Steve again and get him down here."
The tired woman stared back at the teen in slight surprise. Sure, she had seen Daniela angry, but never like this. The stubbornness she showed for Ian was nothing new, however, she wasn't used to seeing that same emotion used for Lip. She had vaguely questioned when the notorious hatred between her and Lip had changed. She had seen the changes. Anybody who wasn't blind could.
Daniela let out a low, angry breath and stood up. She needed some fresh air.
Walking out to the front of the station, she vaguely wished of Ian handing her a beer or Lip handing her his cigarette to share. Either option would help her warm up in the freezing snow and also put her mind at ease.
She pulled out her phone, going through her contacts until she found the name she wanted. Pushing down the call button, she waited for them to pick up.
It took five rings before they did.
"Daniela?" Answered Steve, sounding distracted. The girl didn't waste any time.
"Ian and Lip were arrested because they were driving a stolen car. And yeah, I know you stole the car, Jimbo. So why don't you come down to the station and get them out because if you don't there's a very high chance that Lip will go to jail." The line was quiet for a few moments. Daniela tapped her foot into the soft snow impatiently.
"Fuck," was all Steve said. Daniela could practically hear him pacing. "I can't."
"Um, excuse me? Is it my shitty phone reception or did you just say you couldn't?"
"Look, El. I can't be there right now. I'm tied up with things," he explained in apology. Tony had threatened him. He couldn't see Fiona again. He had to leave.
Daniela let out a low, shaky breath. "I know you were lying about who you really were, Jimmy. But I still thought you were a somewhat decent guy who actually gave a fuck about Fiona and her family. I know you care about Fiona. So don't be an asshole, Jimmy and come fix this. You know Lip and Ian don't deserve this."
Steve was having a mental battle with himself. However, he knew the girl was right.
"Okay, I'll see what I can do." The relief that washed over Daniela was staggering.
"Thank you, Jimmy."
"Don't thank me until they're out," replied Steve. "You're not going to stop calling me Jimmy are you?" He asked lightly a beat later.
Daniela scoffed and shook her head. "Not a chance, Jimbo." She heard the low chuckle of Steve over the line.
"Goodbye, Daniela," he ended. The girl couldn't help but feel a certain finality to his goodbye, something that made her frown.
"Bye, Jimmy."
/
Daniela's eyelids were heavy as she sat on the seats along the wall. It was past midnight and she was still there. One hand lazily stroked the clothed legs of Debbie that rested on her lap. Both of them were falling asleep.
There had been no more word about Lip and Ian. Tony had basically avoided going anywhere near them, leaving them all to question what was happening. Daniela had managed to rope Jakob into getting any information out of Tony but had come up short. Now he was asleep in his own seat, soft snores eliciting from him.
Jasmine was the first to stand up, sighing. "It's almost 1. I gotta get going before Hal decides I'm having another affair." The woman bobbed down in front of Fiona. "Let me drive you home. You can get some sleep. And then come back first thing in the morning."
"Thanks. I'm gonna stay," turned down Fiona.
"You want me to take Debbie? She can sleep at our house tonight." The barely-awake girl shook her head.
"I wanna stay with Fiona."
"I'll give you a call tomorrow, make sure everything's okay," nodded Jasmine as she pulled on her jacket. She turned her head to look at Jakob, who had now woken up and winked before leaving.
Daniela watched her brother's eyes trail after her and stared at him unimpressed.
"You're not actually considering it are you?" She deadpanned. Jakob gave her a tired grin, shaking his head.
"We should get going too," he said, resting a hand on her arm. "It's getting late and we're both exhausted. You've had an emotional day already." Daniela went to refuse but Fiona cut her off gently.
"Go ahead, El. It's okay. I'll call you if anything happens." The girl still hesitated, dropping her eyes to Debbie who had drifted off. Biting her lip, she nodded. She dropped a kiss on Debbie's head and gave a hug to Fiona.
"Please don't forget to call," she mumbled into her neck. Fiona nodded as they pulled away.
Jakob threw his arm around the slumped frame of his sister, basically carrying her out of the station. Daniela was out by the time her head hit the back of the car seat.
/
The next day had come and Lip and Ian were still in jail. Fiona had texted her a little while after she had left saying that the two boys were moved downtown. Daniela had hoped Steve would come through and bail them out already.
After showering, Daniela had gone over to the Gallagher's. Veronica and Kev were there already, with Fiona filling them in on everything. Daniela agreed with Veronica when she said that they needed to hire a good lawyer to get the boys out.
Debbie had told her later on in private that she was going to go back to the North Side to see Steve's mother to look for him. Daniela had asked if she wanted her to come along but the young girl had declined.
Thus, Daniela was left with nothing more to do but to dwell on the well-beings of her two friends in jail. She thought about how they most likely stank and wondered if they met any interesting or creepy people in there.
It was around lunch when she decided she would go and tell Karen. The girl had no idea that Lip was in jail and Daniela figured she ought to know considering their relationship. Whatever it was.
She headed up the front steps and knocked on the door, waiting for Sheila to answer. The woman eventually did, offering her a warm smile.
"Daniela! It's lovely to see you."
"You too, Sheila. I just came to see Karen."
"Oh, yes. Come right in," ushered the woman, opening the door wider. Daniela took her shoes off and placed them in the bag before stepping inside.
"She's just down in the basement," directed Sheila, leading her past the living room. Daniela raised an eyebrow at a freshly bathed Frank sitting at the kitchen table eating lunch. She pondered whether or not to tell him that his sons were in jail but ultimately decided he would just congratulate them and move on.
Sheila guided her to the basement, with Daniela saying her thanks before going down. The loud pumping of heavy-metal music could be heard.
Daniela almost didn't recognize Karen when she first saw her. Lip had told her about a change in personality but this was wild. Gone was the blonde hair and sweetheart look. In its place was pitch black hair, dark black clothing, and a huge nose ring. She also spotted what looked to be a tattoo.
"Uh, Karen?" She said unsurely, eyes flickering around the room. It was completely trashed. Red spray-paint decorated the walls, all spelling out hateful words about her father.
The girl turned to give her an impatient look, which then morphed to confusion. She paused the music and eyed Daniela who stood at the bottom of the stairs.
"What do you want?"
Daniela pursed her lips. "Lip's in jail." Karen didn't react. Except for disinterest.
Rolling her eyes, she turned back around to cutting open a stuffed clown toy. "And?"
"Well," answered Daniela with her own confusion. "I thought I would let you know. Because you and Lip-"
"Me and Lip what?" Interrupted Karen, whirling her head around. "Fuck? Doesn't mean I have feelings or care for him. I don't know if you know this but I'm kind of a whore. I fuck a lot of people. And I care for none of them. Why would this be any different?" The girl's narrowed eyes traveled up and down Daniela. "Do you fuck him too?"
"What?" Daniela frowned. Karen rolled hers again and walked slowly towards her.
"Oh come on. I wouldn't be surprised if you have. Lip has a reputation too. I guess that's why things worked so well for us." She now stood toe to toe with Daniela. The brunette teen didn't waver from her spot but instead stared back at Karen with a tired look. "So have you?"
"No," answered Daniela shortly. The blonde smirked, her teeth showing.
"Do you want to?" Daniela stood there, calm and collected. However, inside her head, it was a different story. Did she want to? She had never thought about it before. But the rapid changes in their relationship and the small moments they continued to share that made her heart speed up a little, made her wonder.
Karen's smirk widened at the unanswered question. Daniela cleared her throat and crossed her arms.
"I didn't come here to talk about Lip. Well, sort of," she said in afterthought. "I thought I should just let you know. In case you did care." Saying what she had come to say, Daniela turned and took the steps back up, leaving Karen standing alone in her own thoughts once again.
Okay so turns out there's another chapter after this one. Whoops. Promise it won't take me long to get that one up but hint, hint- reviews always help!
No Lip in this chapter but that will all be remedied by next week.
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